President Donald Trump is the "perfect target" for Russian intelligence. That's what the retired US Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters asserted during a CNN interview on Wednesday night.

Peters said Trump's acquiescence to Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, suggested to him that Putin had "some sort of grip on Trump."

The former Fox News military analyst said the Steele dossier, a collection of memos and opposition research on Trump compiled by a former British intelligence agent, "rang true" to him because, as he put it, Trump "has no self-control, a sense of sexual entitlement, and intermittent financial crises."

A retired US Army lieutenant colonel and military analyst on Wednesday night speculated that President Donald Trump may be on the tip of the spear with Russian intelligence.

Ralph Peters suggested during a CNN interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin had "some kind of grip on Trump," pointing to the US president's documented affinity toward Putin and his hesitation to speak critically of the Kremlin.

Peters, who trained in Russian studies and the Russian language and who has experience with Russian intelligence officers, said Trump's public behavior showed signs of someone who may be compromised by one of the US's most formidable enemies.

The former Fox News military analyst also mentioned the Steele dossier, a collection of memos and opposition research on Trump compiled by a former British intelligence agent. Peters said the dossier's claims, some of which have been verified and some of which have not, "rang true" to him, because, as he put it, Trump "has no self-control, a sense of sexual entitlement, and intermittent financial crises."

"That's made-to-order for seduction by Russian intelligence," Peters said, later adding that he hoped such conjecture turned out to be false.

Trump and his campaign are at the center of a far-reaching federal investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. Robert Mueller, the special counsel who is leading that investigation, is also looking into whether any members of the Trump campaign colluded with Russia and whether Trump obstructed justice in connection with the investigation.